Strategic Fit of It Service Management

IBM Academy of Technology Academy TechNotes ATN Volume 2, Number 9, 2011 Strategic fit of IT Service Management iven the crucial role that IT (Information Technology) plays in businesses today, IT departments have a significant responsibility to ensure that its value is optimized. IT optimization can be obtained through the adoption of the IT Service Management proposition by IT operations. G Pietro Della Peruta However, IT Service Management concepts and tools are complex changes to introduce to an organization. To achieve the right fit of such concepts and tools it is important that the introduction is congruent with the company’s operating mode. The Company Operating Mode concept was introduced in the seminal work of Nolan and McFarlan on the â€Å"IT Strategic Impact Grid† (Harvard Business Review, October 2005, Information Technology and the Board of DirecTurnaround mode is characStrategic Dependence: Current value of IT on tors). According to the IT terized by the business havbusiness Strategic Impact Grid, ing a low strategic dependHigh companies operate in Low ence on IT which has high four possible modes: strategic impact. Firms in Turnaround Strategic High support, turnaround, facturnaround mode expect a IT Governance Focus IT Governance tory, and strategic. These new system to change their on system s and Governance modes determine the on business business. New systems promapplications Strategic Im pact: services Scope of IT current value IT has for ise major process optimizaFuture value of IT on operations the business (i. e. strategic business tion and service transformaSupport Factory Managem ent dependency) and the tion as well as cost reducBusiness Applications Focus future value IT has for the tion. IT operations are charservice and system m anagem ent m anagem ent business (i. e. strategic acterized by a great attenLow impact). To optimize the tion to efficiency, and they Legenda IT Managem ent Mode value of IT, for each are mostly process driven. Business Focus System Focus Com pany Operating Mode Company Operating Mode, The IT operations focus is on Focus of IT a well-defined level of IT the systems with attention to operations service management (IT IT governance processes (i. e. service management mode) needs to be implemented ITIL). y the IT operation. The IT service management mode is Strategic mode is characterized by IT having high stratecharacterized by the focus of IT operation (i. e. system gic dependence and high strategic impact on the busifocus or business focus) and by the scope of IT operations ness. Firms in this mode require dependable systems and (i. e. management focus or governance focus). When a must exploit emerging technologies to hold their comcompanyâ €™s currently adopted IT management mode petitive position. IT operations are seeking effectiveness does not match the operating mode the company is in, and efficiency. IT operations focus is on managing busithe IT department must modify the way IT services are ness service from a business point of view (effectiveness) managed in order to optimize the value of IT. as well as using a process driven approach to manage Support Mode is characterized by IT having low strategic the IT (efficiency). This means IT governance and business impact on the business which has a low strategic deservice focus. endency on IT. Companies in support mode are least dependent on IT. In this mode systems operate mostly in About the Author: Pietro della Peruta is an Executive IT Archimaintenance mode. Service interruption might not protect, IBM Software Group, a member of the IBM Academy of duce serious consequences. For a company in support Technology, and has 20 years of experience in systems mode, systems and applications are monitored and some availability and p erformance management. est practices exist for recovery from performance and availability problems. IT operations are focused on systems and applications resources, and the scope of operations is management.  © Copyright IBM Corporation 2011 Factory mode is characterized by the business having high strategic dependence on IT which has low strategic impact. Companies in factory mode are more dependent on information technology. If systems fail for a minute or more, there is an immediate loss of business. Increased response time has erious consequences for both internal and external users. IT management in the factory mode is characterized by a high level of effectiveness via tailored control of business service quality. KPIs (key performance indicators) are defined at business level more than at IT level. IT operations have a business focus but still a management scope. In factory mode, the focus of IT operations is more on managing the business services than on the systems or the applications as single entities. For more information please visit the Academy web site.

Personal Value Reconciliation

Personal Value Reconciliation Michael Piers March 1, 2010 CMGT 350 I. T. Organization Behavior Mark Paxton The process of changing our thoughts, behavior, values and ethics in a global setting is how we reconcile and as a result, conform to a socially accepted standard. This is often called normative behavior; we act according to the appropriateness of conduct deemed satisfactory to a particular group. The rules of acceptable conduct are dependent on the setting; what is right and wrong or socially acceptable depends greatly on the values of the people (and their respective culture) involved. As a result, the reconciliation of personal values is merely becoming consistent with the actions, thoughts, behavior, values and ethics of our peers, parents, teachers, etc. The intent of this paper is to discuss the aforementioned compliance of personal values as they are adapted to a particular setting. According to the Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, behavioral modeling plays a large role in our learning; the difference between what is or is not accepted is learned through modeling. Much human learning occurs from sitting and watching, or from just happening to notice what someone else is doing. Indeed, more social learning occurs from observing others than from physically or verbally interacting and experiencing positive or negative outcomes. Observation provides information about what may be learned (alternative behaviors, potential consequences, etc. ). When observation occurs under the right circumstances, it can result in immediate changes to learning or performance. Modeling consists of an illustrator and an observer, in which the observer has been influenced by the illustrator. The encyclopedia states that this type of learning has been widely applied, across numerous areas, resulting in learning or performance modification. Therefore, as thinking and reasoning beings, we learn vicariously whether our behaviors are acceptable or not; through written or unspoken consensus, we conform. In 1971, Philip Zimbardo a Stanford University psychology professor conducted a very telling experiment in the basement of the psychology department. According to Zimbardo, â€Å"The purpose was to understand the development of norms and the effects of roles, labels, and social expectations in a simulated prison environment. † What Zimbardo discovered, among other results, was that the students who acted as guards demonstrated (through their assumed roles) a mildly sadistic shift in behavior. Further that the guards exacerbated and encouraged such behavior. In the aforementioned example, the behavior of the guards is likened to mob behavior – a type of herd mentality in which a group acts in unison sometimes losing sight of their understood correctness of behavior. Oxford Psychologist Henri Tajfel coined â€Å"groupness† for â€Å"tendency of various animals, including humans, to form in-groups†¦and to protect their group from outsides and from outside influences. † Often group mentality, in which majority opinion rules, can force compliance through the desire to avoid conflict. As a result, there are numerous examples of failures in judgment because of this mind-set: religious wars, Salem witch trials, the space shuttle disasters, police brutality, etc. According to Tony Robbins, pain and pleasure are the two major motivators that incite people to action. Therefore, to stimulate a desired change, one merely needs to assign more of one motivator than the other. In the preceding circumstance, if the avoidance of conflict outweighs the need to be accepted in a group, then the obvious inclination results in an action avoiding conflict. In a physiological sense, many organisms involuntarily adapt to changes in their environment: the chameleon changes color, plants track the sun across the sky to gain photosynthesis efficiencies and many creatures living within the various ecosystems on earth modify their behaviors as a survival technique. As humans, the means to a compatible coexistence is our ability to adapt. This ability or trait provides for the success of humans in a group setting. We reconcile our values and ethics as a survival technique. We model others, learning vicariously, act as a herd following or succumbing to consensus, and are guided by fear. In religion we are taught to obey the rules or suffer the damnation. Therefore, we learn to adapt or become an outcast to society. ? Works Cited Behavioral Modeling. (2004). In The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com/entry/wileypsych/behavioral_modeling Gonzales, L. (2008, October). Mob Mentality. National Geographic Adventure, p. 28. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database. STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT. (2007). In Dictionary of Prisons and Punishment. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com/entry/willandpp/stanford_prison_experiment

GENSTAT Linear Statistical Modelling Math Problem

GENSTAT Linear Statistical Modelling - Math Problem Example The histogram for the folate levels appears also to satisfy the assumption of normality. However, the variances for the three groups do not satisfy the assumption of homogeneity. The variance of Group I is very large compared to the variances of Group II and III. (c) Regardless of what you concluded about the assumptions for analysis of variance, use the GENSTAT analysis of variance commands to test the hypothesis that ventilation treatment has no effect on mean red cell folate level. Include appropriate GENSTAT printout to support your conclusions. ***** Analysis of variance ***** Variate: folate Source of variation d.f. s.s. m.s. v.r. F pr. ventil 2 15516. 7758. 3.71 0.044 Residual 19 39716. 2090. Total 21 55232. ***** Tables of means ***** Variate: folate Grand mean 283.2 ventil I II III 316.6 256.4 278.0 rep. 8 9 5 *** Standard errors of differences of means *** Table ventil rep. unequal d.f. 19 s.e.d. 28.92X min.rep 25.50 max-min 21.55X max.rep (No comparisons in categories where s.e.d. marked with an X) The results of ANOVA test show that there is a significant difference between the three groups. Ventilation has an effect on mean red cell folate levels. Furthermore, the probability of F was 0.044, which is less than the alpha level, 0.05. (d) (e) Produce appropriate residual plots to check further the appropriateness of the analysis of variance model. Comment, in the light of these plots, on the adequacy of the model. ANSWER: The histogram...The measures were independent of the researcher's judgment. The histogram for the folate levels appears also to satisfy the assumption of normality. However, the variances for the three groups do not satisfy the assumption of homogeneity. The variance of Group I is very large compared to the variances of Group II and III. (c) Regardless of what you concluded about the assumptions for analysis of variance, use the GENSTAT analysis of variance commands to test the hypothesis that ventilation treatment has no effect on mean red cell folate level. Include appropriate GENSTAT printout to support your conclusions. The results of ANOVA test show that there is a significant difference between the three groups. Ventilation has an effect on mean red cell folate levels. Furthermore, the probability of F was 0.044, which is less than the alpha level, 0.05. The histogram shows that the residuals are not normally distributed. Also, the normal plot shows that the residuals do not fit a straight line. In the light of these observations, it can be said the model is not adequate. The assumptions for the use ANOVA are violated. The model included only 4 of the original 9 variables. It discarded the other 5 explanatory variables. With these 4 variables, the equation can account for the observed data. This is shown by the fact that the mean of the residuals for the model is 0.

Issues to consider when a neighborhood may be exposed to Hazardous Case Study

Issues to consider when a neighborhood may be exposed to Hazardous Emissions - Case Study Example "(Sacramento, California Board of Waste Management, 1982) This means that California must either find new land to bury garbage, or develop other means of disposal of waste that does not consume the state, land of the participant. Of paramount importance is the effect of such a facility will have on property values near the site. Business office space and residential land that are at least in vision, hearing, smell, or the distance of the project will likely face a decline in property values. On the other hand, energy from waste facilities in themselves relatively offer few jobs. Theoretically, an installation of waste to energy has a differential impact on the economic community: residents living near the plant to incur decline in property values that outweigh the benefits, while the community on a whole can reap greater economic benefits and suffer little. Health Risks There will always be potential risks to health posed by waste facilities. The problem of leaching eaten leak persis ts. Ash residue from waste to energy facilities may warrant concern. Waste to energy facilities are also a potential risk to health in terms of air pollution. Emissions from a plant can include varying amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons and particulate matter and other substances for which standards of health have not yet been established. Aesthetic factors The aesthetic impact of such a facility is regularly greater concern for those living near the proposed site or real. Aesthetic factors include installation, appearance of the participant, odor, litter, noise and congestion that accompanies the transport of waste. Although aesthetic factors are the most easily controllable problems faced by technical projects related to waste, they are also the problems that come first in mind, forming the public, AOS immediate impression of the facility. Social perceptions The feeling of being dumped on, seems to be the greatest source of opposition to the proposed conversion of waste into energy. This feeling manifests itself in two separate complaints: the social stigma of living near a waste facility, and the resentment of the host community to serve as a dumping ground for garbage from other communities. Besides the embarrassment of what others will think, residents may detect a nearby site as a recognition of lower social status. Conclusions Although the waste to energy facilities have little in common with hazardous waste sites, the public often does not perceive it that way, as evident in the above literature. Public opposition has become the biggest obstacle to the success of projects sitting Waste-to-Energy in California. Many reasons for this public concern is rooted in past experience with poorly managed waste facilities, landfills, particularly hazardous waste as people in the literature have been experiencing these issues from the past 20 years. Other complaints from the public are not so easily resolved. The most problem atic of those complaints is oriented around the inconveniences and annoyances management facility provides homes nearby. There are methods to reduce the costs imposed on local residences. Unloading 50 trucks a day adds a good amount of waste on the site. Most important, of course, is to select at least one site that offends

To what extent have the processes of globalization resulted in a Essay

To what extent have the processes of globalization resulted in a decline in the relative importance of the TRIAD economies - Essay Example This paper looks into the processes of globalization, the triad economies and the extent to which the processes of globalization have resulted in a decline in the relative importance of the TRIAD economies (The triad consists of the European Union, Japan and the United States). Globalization is not new especially so considering the fact that people, for thousands of years, and later, corporations, have been buying from as well as selling to each other at great distances lands, for example, through the renowned Silk Road across Central Asia that in the middle ages connected Europe and China. Similarly, people and corporations for centuries have invested in ventures in other nations. In effect, several of the prevailing features prior to the First World War outbreak in 1914 are analogous to those of the current wave of globalization. However, during the past few decades, there have been developments in policy and technology, which have stimulated increases in cross-border investment, trade as well as migration. The increases are so large that majority of observers believe that the world has gotten into a qualitatively new phase as far as its economic development is concerned. For instance, the world trade volume has risen by 20 times since the year 1950, and foreign investment flows almost doubled from 468 billion dollars in the year 1997 to 827 billion dollars in the year 1999 (Globalization101.org 2). According to Chase-Dunn, the processes of globalization include political, cultural and economic processes. The modern-day transnational corporate networks’ growing stature as well as the growing interconnectedness of services, goods, markets and finances heavily influences these processes. Cvetkovich and his co-authors note that this influence entails the formation of a new global culture, new transnational political organizations and a new world market. This globalization process involves a dialectical relationship between its political, cultural and

A critical evaluation of infection control issues for patients Essay - 1

A critical evaluation of infection control issues for patients presenting with Tuberculosis in the eye clinic department - Essay Example The present article discusses the critical evaluation of infection control issues for patients with tuberculosis in the eye clinic department. Tuberculosis or TB is a contagious, airborne disease of the lungs that is potentially spreads to other parts of the body and may be fatal. The disease can now be treated, cured, and prevented. However, inspite of the constant efforts scientists are not able to eradicate it completely. It spreads to the most sensitive population or those at higher risk especially the elderly people with reduced immunity or people with immunocompromised condition or suffering with AIDS. Elderly people are especially vulnerable for a number of reasons. First, the disease can take years to become active, so an older person may have gotten the disease earlier in life and only discovered it after it became active. Second, people who live in nursing homes and similar facilities are often in close contact with each other and the disease can spread more easily in such conditions. Third, the bodys immune system becomes weaker as a person grows older and older people may find it more difficult to hold off an attack of the tubercle bacillus. Migration of individuals from developing countries has further enhanced the chances for the spread of disease. People who abuse alcohol and illegal drugs are also at high risk for the disease. Transmission is through droplets. When a person suffering with TB coughs or sneezes, he or she releases a fine mist of water droplets containing thousands of the bacteria. A person(s) nearby the patient may inhale those water droplets and also the bacteria. These bacteria can then travel to that persons respiratory system and cause a new infection. Tuberculosis is not transmitted by contact with a persons clothing, bed linens, or dishes and cooking utensils. A fetus may become infected,

Interview of Older Age Adults Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Interview of Older Age Adults - Essay Example They had a lot to say in answer to each question or topic and would digress to relating something else if the interviewer did not insist on keeping them on track. It seems that as each one talks about a certain aspect of the past, a recollection of a related experience is triggered. The interviewee then becomes eager to relate such related event, thereby making the conversations overly long. Moreover, when all the questions have been answered, it seemed that the subjects did not want the interview to end. It was as if it would take a long time again when the subject would have somebody who will have a long conversation with him or her. The interview process resulted in the following findings, generalizations or conclusions. Older age adults past seventy years old are already well-adjusted in their status. They have already spent more than ten years as "retired" individuals and seem to have come to terms with their changed status in life, especially with regards their relationships with immediate family. They have also accepted their physical conditions, how they are no longer as strong and fit for various types of activities. Those who said that they felt a lot younger than their age are the ones who have best succeeded in coming to terms with their level of physical fitness and the limited type of activities they can pursue. One lady said she felt a lot older and that was because she was worried about her different ailments which she doesn't seem to address appropriately. Older age adults who have adjusted have also accepted how younger people are treating them, whether they feel this is different from their norm s during their times or not. They learn to accept and live with the kind of people surrounding them and learn to understand their attitudes. Another finding from the interview process is that although the subjects interviewed were quite adjusted to their old age status and able to maintain a level of happiness or contentment, they are most wanting in people to talk to. The situation of the subjects interviewed were all as part of their own families, where relatives, if there were, were of different ages. In the case of the husband and wife, they were living by themselves and only had each other. The interview brought a new person into their life for a few hours. In the case of the others, the subjects were living with family members all of younger age. They didn't really have anybody to chat with as a matter of course. They feel that their relatives only converse with them out of duty or courtesy. It also seemed to the interviewer that these subjects were being taken for granted by their immediate families. This was a sad situation for the older age adults and although it wasn't directly verbalized, somehow it could be f elt during the interview. Another finding from the interview process is the matter of dreams and their fulfillment. All the subjects interviewed could not seem to recall any life-long dream from the past that they wanted to achieve as a burning desire. They mentioned dreams that were either achieved or not achieved but are no longer dreams at the present time. It may be part of the acceptance or resignation process that they seemed to have gone through as they were getting older or adjusting to their old age, as a sort of defense mechanism to keep one